Restaurant Review: Rx Cafe

May 01, 2010

Restaurant Review: Rx Cafe

Get your taste buds ready to visit the Rx Cafe in St. Charles (they have a facebook page too) and be prepared to say "Wow" after every bite! My sisters and I visited this restaurant over Sister's Weekend in St. Charles last weekend. After feasting on their gourmet American tapas and desserts, we met the owner of the restaurant and found out that the restaurant was recently opened in downtown St. Charles. I can't tell you what a great surprise and find this restaurant is- the food is freshly prepared, the prices are very reasonable for great gourmet food, the presentation is wonderful and all the unquie dishes we tried were superb. I almost don't want to tell anyone about it so that it doesn't turn into a super crowded, popular restaurant that is hard to get in to! :) However, I decided that I should share my experience so that I can get others to go back with me instead!

Just yesterday, I went back for a second taste with my sister that lives near St. Charles. The food was just as amazing and we found out that there is BYOB with "no corkage fee!" Well, I'll certainly be back SOON with more friends and a bottle of wine to go along with their gourmet food.

To whet your appetite, I'll share a bit about a few of the dishes we tried. The menu has "American tapas," which are basically smaller portioned dishes to share of all varieties, meats, seafoods, etc. Our favorite item was the "Mushroom Ragout," which had several types of mushrooms with thyme, garlic and shallots in a cream sauce that was out of this world, topped with a flaky pastry. Mmmm-mmmm! The picture above is of this dish. My next favorite was the Braised Pork with polenta shown below. The pork is super flavorful, so tender it falls apart on your fork, in a rich stock and I have no idea how the polenta is prepared, but it is a sweet, eggy, fluffy, smooth mixture... not what I think of as polenta! :) The roasted vegetable sandwich with melted brie, also pictured below, came with the most amazing citrus vinaigrette for dipping (we all dipped multiple things in this sauce ;). The pesto bruschetta was also delicious- the topping for the crusted bread was served in a small glass bottle (almost like a wine decanter). The topping consisted of oil, big chunks of garlic, lots of shaved Parmesan and whole basil leaves (my mouth is watering right now thinking of this :). The desserts, pictured at the end, were amazing- we also tried their amazing apple crisp, which we apparently were too enamored with to take a photo. ;) I have to say it was funny making sure no one took a bite of anything before the pictures were taken ("Wait! Wait! Don't eat it yet- I need a picture!"). And even with all the reminders we gave each other, it still didn't happen that we had picture of all the food and in pristine condition :). I guess that goes to show you how much we enjoyed the meals we had here. Please get out to Rx Cafe and give this place a try!

Pictured below, we also tried appetizers, salads, a sandwich, more tapas and of course, dessert! :)